Time To Put Armed Marshals In Schools

Since the Sandy Hook tragedy, there have been about two dozen incidents across the United States involving firearms discharged at elementary, middle and high schools.

It's time to get a handle on gun use in schools and a get-tough law passed in Texas, which allows schools to have armed special marshals, just might be the answer.

As a 20-year-old college student from New York currently attending school in Connecticut, I am, not surprisingly, liberal. I believe that guns shouldn't be readily available to anyone who wants one, especially without a mental evaluation first.

But I have a brain, and I know that just because I don't believe these things should happen doesn't mean they won't. I know that no matter what precautions we take, no matter how hard we make it to get hold of a gun, no matter how strict gun laws become, people like Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter, will find a way to wreak their havoc.

I may be a liberal, but after all that has happened within the last year, including two gun scares in the New Haven area and one on my own campus, I've never agreed more with Texas.

The Protection of Texas Children Act was passed by the Senate in May 2013 and signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry. It creates a new subset of law enforcement officer — called school marshals — who will serve as the front line of defense should an armed attacker threaten public schools, according to Your Houston News.

I've never thought giving a teacher a gun was a good idea, but Texas has me convinced. If this — teachers with guns — is something that is going to happen, then it has to be done correctly, and Texas has the right idea.

This new legislation allows for the creation of school marshals, school employees who will be provided with specified training so that they can serve as licensed law enforcement officers, if needed. These marshals are required to have 80 hours of training — 10 times the amount currently required by the Concealed Handgun Law standards — and will include mental health evaluations. Every two years, marshals will have to renew their licenses, and with this renewal comes a mental health re-evaluation, active shooter and emergency situation recertification, and firearms proficiency training.

These school marshals are required to keep their guns under lock and key, and only one school marshal would be allowed for each 400 students, according to the New York Times. One of the most important parts of this law, in my opinion, is that marshals are to be covert, their identities known only to the head school administrator and local police authorities.

Giving teachers guns — it's scary but it's already happening. In states such as Arkansas, Kansas and Tennessee, laws don't prohibit teachers from carrying guns, and in many instances, these teachers are taking advantage of that. If it's already happening, the least we can do is to make sure it's being done in a safe and effective manner. Perhaps with the installation of programs like the one in Texas, the statistics of school shootings will drop.

The continuing and all-too-frequent occurrence of shooting incidents in schools must be stopped. Too many students, parents, teachers and friends have suffered this terrifying nightmare of gunshots, injury and death. We must not become desensitized to the ever-increasing violent acts in our schools. Armed marshals like those approved in Texas, can respond immediately to a dangerous situation in a school, adding an additional level of security, which, sadly, seems warranted.

Elissa Sanci, 19, of Elmont, N.Y., is a sophomore majoring in communication at the University of New Haven.

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